1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a viscometer including a probe to be dipped into a liquid the viscosity of which is to be measured (hereinafter referred to as "measured liquid"), and a vibrator formed of a piezoelectric element and built into the probe.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
A viscometer disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. Sho 62-107389 comprises a torsion bar; a probe to be dipped into a measured liquid and mounted on a distal end of the torsion bar; and a circular direction vibrator, a detector and a massive body all mounted on the other end of the torsion bar extending outside the measured liquid, circular direction vibrations being transmitted to the probe through the torsion bar.
According to the prior art, a case accommodating therein the vibrator and the massive body can turn out to be one of several disturbance factors which makes it difficult to correctly transmit vibrations of the vibrator to the probe. Moreover, the prior art device is difficult to make compact. Furthermore, although the prior art device has no problem when it is used for measuring viscosity of a sample measured liquid, it is not good when used for constantly measuring viscosity of a continuously flowing liquid.